Everton have bid £30million on a goalkeeper.
In an unprecedented move, it seems that Everton have actually decided to waive frugality early on in negotiations for once and have agreed a deal in principle to meet Sunderland’s demands for goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Pickford, although undoubtedly talented and promising as a young player, has drawn criticism due to the size of his transfer fee, which will see him become the third most expensive goalkeeper of all time, behind Manchester City’s recent signing Ederson at £34.7million and Buffon at £32.6million.
But there are a number of factors that point to this being the perfect deal for Everton moving forward, as they return to European football this coming season.
In the modern footballing climate, English footballers are expected to cost much more than they used to for English clubs. Due to the homegrown policy, which was enacted prior to the 2010/11 season, Premier League clubs are now forced to include a significant number of homegrown players in their squads.
As such, English players have seen their stock rise considerably, as larger clubs like Manchester City don’t have a great number of such players in their squads. This rise makes Pickford’s fee not too shocking – it is of course one of the reasons why John Stones went for so much money last summer.
As a goalkeeper, Pickford also has a much larger shelf life than almost all other outfield players. Still only 23, Everton could even see Pickford play as their No.1 ‘keeper for a good ten to fifteen years, should everything go well, which would more than make up for the large price tag.
I’ve gone on record before as saying that Pickford would not have been my number one choice this summer. I would have much preferred Asmir Begović, Chelsea’s former backup who will begin his Bournemouth career in two months time.
That being said, Pickford is good enough to be first choice for Everton this coming season, despite his first-team footballing career being relatively fresh. Sunderland would certainly have been relegated much earlier and in much more embarrassing fashion had Pickford not done what he could.
To tack on to that though, Pickford should certainly not receive scepticism due to Sunderland’s relegation, as even the best ‘keeper in the world would have struggled keep the Black Cats from hitting the drop.
Pickford’s fee is believed to be an initial payment of between £18million and £22million, which I think is a more than sensible fee, with the additional costs coming from additional clauses being hit.
For me, that can only be positive. If Pickford can meet those clauses and demand the extra money be paid, then odds are he has done a decent enough job to get to that point.
In reality, Ronald Koeman is looking to set up a fruitful platform for Everton to advance from. With all of the groundwork Farhad Moshiri and Koeman have laid down both on and off the field, it’s safe to say that Everton are in a much stronger position than twelve months ago.
Koeman has signed young, developing players who have star quality about them, with other potential signings Sandro Ramírez, Michael Keane and Davy Klaassen also fitting those parameters.
All in all, Everton seems like the perfect place for Pickford to develop, away from the biting pressures of the top four. If he can develop how many people believe he has the ability to do so, then Everton will have pulled off a masterstroke of a deal.
